Nobuo At Teeter House

Nobuo’s has a beautiful, creative little cocktail menu that I adore. I’ve eaten here for lunch and dinner, and I absolutely recommend the dinner menu. The Teeter house’s dining areas are sectioned off into different rooms, so the atmosphere is intimate and kind of romantic I came to dinner with a party of six and we each ordered three tapas (which are all portioned off to share) and split them among the group over a span of three hours. The dining experience is a constant stream of small portions, but it’s relaxing and exciting all at once. I strongly recommend this as a date spot or just a place to take your family out of their comfort zone. My family lived in Japan for five years, and it was so rewarding to bring back some of those tastes and memories for my parents when they visited Phoenix.

Nobuo at Teeter House
This restaurant focuses on quality. Plain and simple. Their ingredients are of very high quality and their recipes are simple, yet have a flair of creativity.
The debate on whether the cost is worth the quality is debatable in my opinion.
I wish I could get more dishes but unfortunately, I am not made of money.
Taste
Vegetable Medley– The waitress said that the chef pretty much does anything and presents it to the customers. A square dish is presented to your party with each of the four corners dolloped with a contrasting set of vegetables and in the middle, a salad. I chose this dish because I love surprises and I like it when a chef has free reign on what to do and it shows the true essence of the restaurant. This was about $ 14.00
On the north side was a bisected snow peas with peanut sauce and bonito flakes. I thought the savoriness of the bonito flakes enhanced the peanut sauce very well and the snop peas were blanched to perfection.
The east has a grilled blanched Brussel sprout with a pungent wasabi honey sauce. I love it when restaurants cooked Brussel sprouts just right and they definitely got it down to a science. The sauce was a spicy wasabi which took me by surprise.
The south, an unpronounceable Asian vegetable that was dried in the oven. It literally tastes like kale chips. The color is very bright for a dried vegetable so it makes me believe that they actually probably fried it without any coating. The fast yet high heat really brings out the color of the vegetable and enhances the flavor. Like a kale chip, the leafy crisp dissolves in your mouth.
The west was lined with yellow and red cherry tomatoes with a mirin based sweet sauce. Sprinkled were bits of tomato. It was a nice, summary yet refreshing dish, but wasn’t my favorite.
And the center was a watermelon radish salad with a sour vinaigrette. Though it seemed pretty cool, I found the essence of the vegetable missing (maybe the vegetable actually has no flavor) and was met with pretty much a wet sponge of vinegrette.
Oyster with Sea Urchin– For about $ 16.00, you get two shelled sea urchins and oysters on a spoon. The two contrasting sea foods are then drizzled with a spicy wasabi oil. I shot these down which I kind of regret because the wasabi hit me in the face. I’m not a huge connosouer when it comes to sea urchins because I feel like they taste like salty sea water bags. The raw oyster reminds me of the oens I had in New Orelans, it had that aoiunt of freshness.
Soft Shell Crab Salad –The waitress said that this dish is the most popular. At $ 20.00 a plate, this is a big dish in Nobuo’s standard. You get a pretty big plate with a quartered deep fried soft shelled crab. Below the crab is some spongy rice noodles and a lot of cucumber and onions. The sauce is particularily sour and tastes like mirin. The peanuts are garnished around the plate giving it a nice crunch if you can get it on your chopsticks. The blue crab was excellent but I found the salad to be average. The dressing, which covered the bottom of the plate (for decoration) was too acidic for me and I was sad I couldn’t get any peanuts in my bites.
Ambiance
Nobuo’s a small, cramped restaurant just like many of the Heritage Square restaurants but I feel that’s what give sit its charm. Overall, the atmosphere does not fit the quality of the food. Maybe it’s too much time at the Rose and Crowns, but I felt like I was eating at a British pub. It didn’t help that we were sitting in front of the entrance.
If you have big party, Nobuo actually has a huge and well decorated party room. The ambiance of the room is a calm, aqua blue with Japanese décor such as a portrait of a geisha. If you ever had to impress a business with business men who like food and a little bit of culture, this is the perfect room to pelase your cilents. With the price of food, that will also please them as well.
Cost
About $ 60.00 will give you a complete meal. Depending on if you eat cheap or expensive, add or subtract $ 20 dollars. The waitress suggested having us try 3 more dishes because the average number of dishes for 2 people is 6 dishes. As much as I’d like to pay that much, I don’t.
If you have the money and are a complete food snob, then go for buying as much as you want. However, with my budget, I could only afford 3 dishes for my date and I.
Selection
Like all simple Japanese inspired restaurants, Nobuo’s menu is very simple and their items involves a name and the ingredients used in the bottom. The drinks list is longer than the menu, which is about two pages long and lists cocktails, beers, and wine.
A hint: The filling dishes are the crab salad and the banana leaf pork.
Overall

This place is worth a visit or two or three just for the amazing variety of fresh flavors. It is Japanese tapas so a few dishes apiece works out well. The Japanese antipasto with pickled radish with wasabi was surprisingly refreshing and tangy. I found the marinated fluke with ginger finished off with sizzling sesame oil incredibly addictive. It comes with focaccio to soak up the flavorful oil. It is a small quaint restaurant — very quiet on a Sunday evening. Attentive hosts with great service.

Basis for my starred ratings (which skews heavily to the food or drink):
1 star: Never again.
2 stars: Poor food, poor experience, extraordinary measures in order for me to come back.
3 stars: Average, nothing really special, nothing particularly bad.
4 stars: Very good, would definitely return.
5 stars: A favorite, one of the best.
Thank you, Chef Fukuda, for not doing just a sushi joint in the Valley. Thank you opening people’s eyes to the fact that Japanese food is not just sushi (not even close). And thank you for doing interesting and modern interpretations of that same Japanese cuisine.
This place can get a little pricey. All those little dishes can add up. But the nigiri he serves has been excellent, many of the dishes inventive, and for the most part, quite well-​balanced.
Came here for lunch once and got the pork belly buns and the Soft shell crab sandwich. The pork belly buns are fine, David Chang’s of Momofuku are clearly better. But these are tasty enough. The soft shell crab is large and well fried, not too wet, with a nice crunch. This was also a tasty sandwich.
My wife and I have tried almost everything on the dinner menu. The Grapefruit and hamachi is a standout dish — subtle and delicious. My wife was also pleasantly surprised by the tako and tomato. The hassun plate includes the Teeter tots, and I’m a sucker for those. (Tofu fried tots, quite tasty.)
The steamed clams are steamed in sake and you can definitely smell it — the broth is delicious from the clam juice and bacon and sake. The seabass and mushroom, every time we’ve ordered it, has been a tad salty. The texture is pretty perfect, just a tad over-​seasoned. The warm duck salad is also quite good.
We have yet to try Chef Fukuda’s omakase experience, but will do so soon and I’ll update then. In the mean time, this James Beard Award-​winning chef deserves much praise for his casual fine dining establishment in the little house.

Food: delicious small portions with fresh creative favors. Pricey yes but I’m okay with that if quality is good. Grapefruit hamachi was tasty, soft shell crab salad, oysters, cauliflower was the vegetable of the day. Orange fritter desert.
Ambiance: cozy and historic home. Live music on patio was simply adorable with a separate menu very affordable for casual meal.
So why the 3 star review?
Service.
Waitstaff was knowledgable and brought out all of food in timely manner etc no issues there. But I felt overall that the atmosphere was snobby and unaccommodating. I felt like I was judged immediately as someone who was going to ask for a Rock n Roll and a sake bomb and that I was treated as such. (I understand that this is clearly not the place). Just because I removed my septum piercing 10 years ago and don’t have a sleeve, this apparently makes me not sophisticated hipster enough for this establishment.
First young lady who came by our table took drink orders. I asked for a matcha green tea and pointed at the menu to confirm that was what I had requested (I didn’t want to get stuck with a green tea leaf beverage which is brewed leaves as opposed to whisked matcha powder). Her response was very snobby «matcha is green tea» (as if I didn’t know this) and then «those other teas are brown» (referring to green tea leaves)… Okay… Not a good first impression. But I can move on.
A member of our party asked for hot sake and they informed us they only serve it cold. I get that but taste is a personal preference and clearly they have the capability to warm up a liquid. We asked them if they could do this for us. No. Then implying that we could do this ourselves, we then asked if we could have hot tea and cold sake. The waitress threatened «if I see you heating up the sake, I am going to have to ask you to leave because you are asking to do something that I clearly already told you not to do»
I am usually very forgiving of poor service or bad attitudes. Everyone has a bad day from time to time. In their defense our table was a larger party of a somewhat boisterous nature. Still I can’t excuse the pretentious attitude.
I’d probably come back for the food but will keep a low profile with a smaller group.

This place is a sorry excuse for a restaurant. As someone who has food allergies, it is embarrassing and never easy to try and explain to a waiter why you can or can’t eat something. Most of the time, waiters and chefs are overly accommodating and make an uncomfortable situation into a positive experience. Nobu was the complete opposite and made me feel like I did something wrong by walking in the door. My review of this place:
The food: I wouldn’t know, they refused to adjust any of their dishes. Example: I politely asked if they could leave off their ponzu sauce on a sashimi dish, and they couldn’t do that. As a place that prides themselves on fresh sushi, how can you not accommodate this request? They refused to serve me any food at all, and make adjustments to any of their dishes. Apparently everything they make has soy, even all of their sashimi/​sushi dishes (which I believe are made to order). I had to sit and watch my friends eat, while I sat there. I’ve been to plenty of sushi/​Asian restaurants, and have been accommodated every time.
The waiter: I really wish I remembered his name so I could tell everyone that reads this what an a-​hole this guy was. Not only was he rude to me, he refused to allow us to talk to the chef. He didn’t even apologize, but instead seemed annoyed that I had any sort of request to change their food in any way. Apparently he could care less that I could’ve gotten extremely sick from eating the soy sauce. There was no one in the restaurant and they treated us like crap.
This place is an elitist establishment that does not know how to treat their customers with respect, I would never eat here again and will tell everyone I know to go somewhere else.

I loved this place. Enough said. Great food, great atmosphere! We did the tasting menu and the bigger one and one course from the next surprised us and we loved it. Must visit place. I posted a picture for each course so decide for yourself.

Came here on a double date for Phoenix restaurant week. While expensive you truly get excellent quality and amazingly fresh sushi. I can’t say that I would recommend anything on the menu since what u got was price fixed but I can say that it was incredibly delicious and left me craving more. This is located right next to the science museum downtown and across the way from the children’s museum. Along with the very famous pizzeria bianco in the same plaza. It’s a very small establishment in a repurposed house giving it a very private and intimate feel. I would definitely recommend this place for a special occasion or date.

My boyfriend and I came here after a convention near by and wanted a place that validates our garage parking. We came at late lunch time on a Saturday, and were quite impressed with this restaurant! The restaurant occupies an old timely house with around 10 small tables inside with ample seating pause, and has very soothing music to give it a chill ambience.
Our server was very patient with us, as it was our experience here and recommended dishes to suit our lunchtime needs.
For our entrees, we got an Ebi salad and okonomiyaki. The salad was a lighter, smaller portion that reminds me of traditional Vietnamese vermicelli dishes with a fish sauce type of taste. The shrimp that came with it were cooked to perfection. My dish, however, was pretty bomb dot com. It has the texture of a takoyaki dish in a pancake format, and definitely filled me up. It also has a delicious mix of nori, ginger, and possibly a unagi flavor mix to it.
Dish sizes were smaller than we would like, but you can’t argue with the taste of our food!

I’ll tell you a little later how Restaurant managed to serve me the tastiest food but yet was able to disappoint me at the end, but first, let me tell you about how I met the world’s nicest server on this evening.
I took my fiancé to this great restaurant for his birthday. Reservations were made ahead. We were seated and the fun has begun. Our server was such a refreshment. He was polite, knowledgeable, personable, funny, and more…
We decided to go with a tasting menu and he was sure to explain to us of what we should expect. Overall, the service was great and it is almost comparable to first-​class service of French Laundry :-)
The ambiance was very zen like. This restorante is great for special occasions. They only have 8 tables. Very intimate and personable historic, two bedroom house in downtown Phoenix. The place is really easy to find as it seats right across from famos Pizzeria Bianco.
They are open 7 days a week but I highly recommend that reservations are made prior your visitation as they are really small and popular place. They start serving dinner at 5PM and are open for lunch from 11am to 2pm.
Both of us really enjoyed the food very much as it took us to Japan and opened up our palette. My favorite were sashimi’s for which, I am definitely going back :-)
The only catch to this evening was that I did find a little bit odd that they didn’t do anything special for the birthday boy. He was served the same desert as i got without a single candle or any acknowledgment of his special day. When I originally called to make the reservations, I was advised that they do something little for b-​day guests but I must say we got nothing.
For me, it is not about the free desert, I can pay for that — it just the principal. It would of been nice to get at least a candle for such a special occasion, especially at pace where one drops over $ 300 for dinner for two :-)
We are definitely going back and highly recommend this place to those with deep pockets ;-)

This is a great, somewhat non-​traditional Japanese restaurant. As a Morimoto fan, I’ve had great Japanese, and this is a very good option.
Not a traditional sushi restaurant, in that they don’t appear (at least for dinner) to have a la carte sushi rolls, sashimi, and nigiri, but rather have an a la carte hot/​cold menu, as well as several tasting options. The food and service were very good, and I enjoyed the meal quite a lot. The location is an old house, which makes it somewhat different than what you’d expect in a Japanese restaurant.
Very much worth the visit!
–J

This felt like a super-​trendy L.A. restaurant with microscopic portions that was transplanted to Phoenix. While the ingredients, preparation and flavors are top notch, the super tiny portions at the high price point make this a «won’t come back» for me. If an orange slice and a shot of diet soda is a big meal for you, this is the perfect place for you.
The restaurant is clear when you make a reservation that it is not your typical sushi restaurant. This is very high end, very deliberately «lots of flavor in a tiny package» Japanese cuisine. If that is what you are looking for, you are in for a treat, as Nobou does that very well. If you are looking for a filling meal with generous portions at reasonable prices, this is not the place for you.
We had a party of 6 for dinner. Service was okay but unenthusiastic and bordering on snobby (hence my reference to feeling like being at an L.A. restaurant). The salmon appetizer was 6 tiny, postage-​stamp sized pieces of salmon with 2 roasted nuts on top drizzled with basil oil. Delicious but ridiculously small. Same with the vegetable plate — six teeny tiny piles of different vegetable preparations. Again delicious but the portion size seems ridiculous. Soft shell crab plate was more generous in portion size. Duck plate was a decent amount of duck for one person but sat on top of a few tablespoons worth of noodles — how expensive are noodles, could you be more generous with them?
Our table half-​joked about going for drive through after leaving the restaurant. We shared a few appetizers and a few main dishes, plus one drink each and it came to $ 50/​person. Not okay when you leave feeling hungry.
So if you are from L.A. or New York and want a «scene» dining experience with exotic preparation and tiny portions, this is the place for you. If not, look elsewhere.

Yum!
My friend and I were in AZ for a long weekend and we were spending our last evening in Phoenix before flying out early the next morning. We’d had our fill of Mexican food so we were perusing Unilocal for some help. Unfortunately, many places are closed on Sundays so we were pretty limited on where to eat, especially because we didn’t want to have to drive v. far.
We ended up at Nobuo at Unilocal’s suggestion, after deciding that we wanted sushi. Unfortunately, this wasn’t quite the sushi bar we were expecting. Fortunately, neither of us was that hungry so the small portions didn’t bother us much.
We chose five dishes to share between the two of us and it was mildly satisfying. I don’t recommend going here if you’re feeling ravenous unless you’re willing to spend a small fortune. Each dish is only about 4 bites and ranges from $ 18 to $ 30.
We had the yellowtail ceviche, tuna tataki with beet purée, shiromi carpaccio, tako and tomato, and the pork belly. The fish was incredibly fresh and the preparation was v. balanced with the appropriate amount of acidity, salt, and umami flavors. The shiromi carpaccio was drizzled with a hot chili oil at the table, which partially cooked the fish; we loved the chili oil so much, we wished we could ask for some to douse the other dishes with. The tako was tender and the tomato used in the dish was perfectly ripe. The pork belly was nice and tender and served on a bed of deliciously seasoned rice.
It was a surprisingly yummy meal with incredible presentation and lovely ambiance. I’d say this is definitely more of a special occasion place.

What a disappointment. I didn’t have much of a chance to sample much here, because when I ordered the oysters appetizer I wasn’t planning on two minuscule ½ tsp size dwarf oysters priced at $ 8. This was supposed to be an appetizer/​small plate? I mean, I get the definition of «small» and can respect that, but it is what happened after that which confirmed to me the ONE star rating I have this restaurant and the reason I’ll never be back.
So I ordered a cocktail and the oysters, fully anticipating to move on to dinner afterwards. I guess at this place they like to size you up based on your initial order and treat you accordingly, and although I was eyeing several of the $ 20+ main dishes after my oysters, I was rudely disappointed. When I received the $ 8 mini oysters I was in disbelief at the serving size, and questioned the waitress, and then asked to speak to the manager. Across the restaurant I could hear his booming voice «IF SHE WANTS THE OYSTERS FOR FREE WE CAN GIVE HER HER CHECK AND SHE CAN GO!»
Um, excuse me, how did my questioning the server about the serving size turn into me wanting to be a free-​loader? This restaurant may excel at food preparation (I wouldn’t know, I didn’t get past the 8 grams of oysters I think I ate…) but this restaurant lacks decorum and etiquette in SPADES. The manager had humiliated me in front of the entire restaurant, publicly, without asking ME a single question directly. I met him halfway from the kitchen to my table, having heard his judgement of me the entire length of the restaurant. Suffice it to say he never EVER asked me a single question before pronouncing judgment on me. HORRIBLE and ENTITLED management and wait staff. Uppity, judgmental, horrible experience. I will never go back, and hope this review saves you from an overpriced and demeaning experience.

We finally got around to visiting Nobuo and despite spending nearly $ 350 for two people, we’re really glad we did.
The food here is terrific. The menu is eclectic, ingredients are super fresh, presentation is creative but not overblown. I cannot say enough about how the food flavors are clean and wonderful without an overabundance of seasoning.
Cold Plates:
I would recommend anything made with Yellowtail tuna. The Grapefruit YT is spectacular here as is the YT Ceviche. YT is a bellwether for me on how good a Japanese restaurant is. This is some of the best I’ve ever had. It starts to melt on your tongue the second it lands there. I’d also recommend the Shiromi Carpaccio. Wow! The hot sesame oil poured by your server cooks the thinly sliced fish on the spot — and then you soak it up with a crispy outside, moist inside focaccia bread that was so good, we asked for more.
Hot Plates:
I’d recommend the Pork belly Wrapped in Banana Leaf. It was outstanding. Not too fatty, but just enough for flavor. The banana leaf added a terrific rustic flavor that cannot be overstated. Also the Coconut Curry Lamb was aromatic and delicious. Four tender shanks of cooked medium-​rare lamb are coated with a light curry that really accentuated the flavor of the meat. Again, not over-​seasoned here, so if you’re thinking this is a heavy Thai or Indian sauce, it’s not. Last but not least was the Foie Gras. If you love Foie Gras, this is as good as it gets. Sweet, unctuous, seared perfectly. Enough said.
Wine:
We chose a Gruner Veltliner made in Santa Ynez, CA and it was the perfect pairing with our food. The wine list is ample and well curated. Prices are a bit steep, but that’s true for everything at Nobuo.
Service:
Our server was super-​knowledgable, friendly and probably the best up-​seller of any server I’ve ever had.
Atmosphere:
Loved the old Teeter House across the walk from Pizza Bianco. Such as neat part of town. Small rooms make for cozy, intimate dining.

Boyfriend and I came for a celebratory dinner and were so happy we did! Flavors were incredible. Everything we tried was great. Small dishes, but we expected that.
Great food.

Not impressed.
My husband and I decided to try this place while we were out of town for a conference– we tried 3 dishes which seemed to be the most popular.
1. sashimi special– for tonight they were serving mackarel. Presentation was beautiful– the entire mackarel was displayed on the plate alongside the sashimi, and after you were done eating they take the bones to be deepfried to make chips. However, aesthetics is all this dish had, and it definitely lacked in flavor. I usually enjoy the taste of mackarel, but the manner in which the pieces were cut did not allow the flavors of the fish to come through– bland.
2. hamachi & grapefruit– one order comes with four spoon bites which were a nice blend sweetness from the grapefruit and citrus from the ponzu
3. uni with oyster– very disappointed with this. oyster was not of high quality and was topped with a baby piece of uni. $ 16 for 2 pieces is way overpriced.

«What?! You haven’t been to Nobuo yet? [And you call yourself a foodie]…» This is the typical reaction I get from others concerning this restaurant. Enough is enough, right? I finally gave in and met a friend for dinner on a Thursday evening about a week ago.
Let’s just delve right in, shall we?
Modern Asian inspired din was served tapas style.
Wait staff was courteous, observant, patient, and well… Just awesome.
Only three mackerel specials were served that evening. We had one of them. The mackerel had two phases. The first was sliced sashimi phase with fresh slices sitting next to the rest of the body in an artful design. After we finished the sashimi, they took the rest of the body away and deep fried it so we could eat it like soft shelled crab for the second phase. To most, this may sound not appealing, but if you’re an adventurous eater like we are, you would’ve loved this.
We had two octopus plates. One was the «famous-​featured-​in-​Phoenix-​mag-​» Tako and Tomato. The other was a battered fried tako. Prepared in different ways, it was surprising that both were so tender and delicate and almost melted in your mouth. I find that octopus can be chewy if improperly prepared but these were done to perfection. Bravo!
Hamachi and grapefruit — a menu staple that should be ordered every time!
Clams with mushrooms — flavor bomb! Every last bite devoured… Including the broth. Licked dry.
Smokey Thompson — I was drawn to this cocktail for the smokey part and whiskey part with some yuzu juice and egg whites and honey. It’s refreshing and unique tasting and one of my favorite combinations now.
Blossom and Smoke– this drink just sounded cool. It’s potent and unique tasting. I enjoyed this but love the Smokey Thompson more.
Overall, my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed our girls’ night catching up. We splurged and spent just around $ 160 or so for both of us — a couple cocktails each and all the small entrées we ordered. Alas, this taste adventure does not come thriftily but we knew that and sometimes it’s fun to go nuts with food every once in awhile.

I can’t believe it took me so long to come back to one of my favorite restaurants! Took a friend for her first time visit.
We started off with a couple of cocktails. I had the garden gimlet. It was on the sweeter side, which I prefer. But not overly sweet. It was quiet subtle.
We ordered the deep fried squid balls. That’s not what they were called, but it’s an accurate description. They were okay. We also the tako and tomato and the grapefruit and hamachi. Loved them both! Always have! We also ordered the other special. It was a whole fish sashimied. Once you finish the sashimi, they take the bones and deep fry them so you can eat them! Very interesting. Our final dish, we ordered on a whim. It was the clams and the mushrooms. By far, the best dish of the night! It comes in some sort of plastic wrapping. The broth was insanely fragrant and it tasted better than it smelled. The mushrooms were perfect. I could eat this dish every day.
Service was great. I forgot my blazer and one of their staff chased me around the corner to return it.
Thank you for such a wonderful experience.

Delightful, surprising, and light Japanese fare. Nobuo At Teeter House is hidden away in a quiet part of Phoenix, in a converted house. The interior is minimalist, dim, and chic. Prices are steep but the experience is absolutely worth it. Every option was delicious and memorable. Plates are small and of very high quality.
Noise level is low. Service is helpful. Good date spot.

I REALLY wanted to love this place. I actually feel kinda bad giving 3 stars… but It’s not quite 4 stars because of my combined experience and the value of my meal.
I’m not familiar with Phoenix area but I’m not foreigner to Japanese food or to upperscale restaurants (especially when a restaurant is $$$).
When I walked in I instantly fell in love w/​the décor! It was so romantic, cozy, and warm. A perfect place to unwind with your dinner or have a nice evening with your S.O.
However, since I am on business travel, I asked for a table for 1.
Ambiance
I got seated at the bar instead. OK, that’s fine, I can deal with that (probably my fault since I didn’t do a reservation). For such a nice place, you’d expect a better bar area? It was very lit up and lots of prep stations behind the bar, not a very good scene to be looking at when you’re at a $$$ restaurant. Nobuo was actually standing behind the bar doing his planning/​prepping for the night. I was the only one in the bar and he did not greet or make eye contact with me for the first 15 mins I sat there. I felt a little alienated at once, but that’s fine, I’m not new to high-​ranked Japanese chef attitudes (he eased up a lot later on, but sometimes that first impression makes a big difference in making your guests feel welcomed).
I ordered the raved about hamachi grapefruit, foie gras, and tako age (octopus fritters).
Hamachi grapefruit $ 16, ($ 24 with truffle shavings)
–Maybe Unilocal over-​hyped it for me, but this wasn’t that great. It was good, the hamachi was def high quality but I thought the ponzu had a tad too much soy sauce and that really overwhelmed/​covered the beautiful, light taste of hamachi I was expecting.
–I got the option to add fresh white truffles (from Italy!) shavings to my appetizer. They special catered to my request of adding truffles to half of my appetizer because I still wanted to taste the original intent of appetizer. Of course, they did push to accommodate the truffle to be added because it’s more expensive. Nobuo gave me a lot of shavings but it wasn’t the case with other people’s orders.
–Overall I didn’t think adding the white truffle was worth the flavor/​texture boost. It was actually very little boost for how much more it cost. I would opt out next time.
–The size of the bite was a little too big for me… a tad awkward, but who am I to complain about having more food? IMO, it would probably be better served ²⁄₃ of it’s current size… maybe more spoons? With a smaller bite/​chew, I feel like the flavors can mix better in your mouth.
Tako Age $ 8
–This comes with a yuzu aioli. This aioli got better and better as you ate it. The citrusy of the yuzu balanced well with the heaviness of the tako fritter.
–I expected these fritters to be really crispy but it was not. The texture of the batter was actually a little cake-​y (like microwaved corn dog? but not in a bad way!). The crunchiness came from the octopus which was super delightful! I wish there was a TINY bit more octopus for the texture but otherwise it was a pretty good ratio.
–It’s octopus and I think a fish paste (?) inside? Well it had a fish paste texture, but of course a fresh fish paste.
Foie Gras $ 28
–This was shockingly small for the price tag. I checked their online menu before going, I guess they upped the price and didn’t update the online menu. The foie was maybe about 2−3oz size…
–This was super good. The foie was AMAZING, but I think that speaks more to the quality of the foie rather than anything else. But again, I’m a HUGE foie fan so I’m already biased! I melted as the foie melted inside my mouth.
–The sear was spot-​on.
–Pairing was smart (also standard). There were marinated pears to clean your palate from the fattiness of the foie, but who wants to!!! You want that flavor to linger as long as possible!
–I even tried the sesame leaf with the foie. I wasn’t sure if the intent was decoration or to eat, but I love sesame leaves! Reminds me so much of Japan. I think it’s for decoration though…
I probably seemed like a cheap, desperately hungry bastard eating that leaf! I swear I was just curious!!!
Overall, for $$$ I didn’t think it was worth it for the ambiance I was provided (bar area), I mean I still paid the same as other diners! The service was very meh for a $$$ restaurant. It was good, but wasn’t stellar for this price range. I actually had higher expectations of food flavor-​combos as well. Food was still very good, but not I’m not WOW-​ed.
My total bill came out to be $ 65 (w/​o drinks, before tips).

Everything we had was amazing! Out of the many tapas dishes we tried, I absolutely loved the hamachi with grapefruit. So much flavor in one bite… I could really taste every single ingredient in it and they went so well together! And trust me, I never thought I’d enjoy a combination of fruit and raw fish. My second favorite was the coconut curry lamb… wow! The apple fritters with miso dressing were also delicious! What a great place to eat… I can’t wait to come back the next time I am in Phoenix!

A fun experience, but an expensive one!
Parking: This is in Heritage square, so there are paid parking garages near by. We walked, since we live downtown.
Service: Fantastic and attentive. That said, my friend knows everyone at every restaurant downtown so that makes it a bit nicer.
Drinks: Interesting, tasty concoctions.
Food: Tiny appetizer portions, but everything is delicious and carefully made. The wait staff will explain everything. There are oysters, shrimp, and tuna, other fish — based foods.

Definitely one of the best Japanese restaurants I’ve been to in Phoenix, if not the best restaurant I’ve been to in Phoenix.
AMBIANCE: 5 stars
Cozy, great lighting, great for dates or small groups. Situated in a historic home which makes the location much more enjoyable.
FOOD: 5 stars
Wow! Yellow tail hamachi with grapefruit, the clam soup, uni and oyster… EVERYTHING is fresh and combinations will melt in your mouth
SERVICE; 5 stars
Playing, delivery and overall service 5 stars all around.
It’s Nobuo and not Nobu so I did not expect much, but if I had expectations of this place it would have surpassed it.

The food here was beyond amazing. I took my friend here for her birthday and figured we would try something different & we were not disappointed. The flavor alone is something to rave about! The only down fall is we we on a time crunch and wanted to share the 7 course dinner but the waiter said we couldn’t do that. That’s the only reason for one less star. We were going to share everything anyways but we understood and just picked other dishes. The waiter was well educated in the menu & we often turned to him about what to order for drinks & dinner menu. We loved every dish that came out. We loved the small quaintness of the house and overall enjoyed everything. The dessert was superb! It is a bit on the pricey side but well worth it. Per other reviews I thought I would not be full but to my surprise we left very satisfied. Can’t wait to return and try some other things on the menu! i

Food does not disappoint. Flavors are refreshing. Chef did a good job of incorporating innovative elements into traditional Japanese ingredients.
Dishes are tapas style all meant to be shared. That said, I do find the portion on the smaller side. If you have more than 3 people in the party, you might need to double up on some dishes. Also, food is served in courses rather than tapas or izakaya style.
Do save room for dessert and don’t skip the cocktails.

I absolutely love this place. Great ambience, very quaint in an old Victorian house in the heart of downtown Phoenix by their museum.
Their food is truly innovative and a true foodgasm.
90% of their dishes covers all those basic 5 senses (sweet, sour, bitter, umami, salty), making their dishes well balanced and an explosion of flavors in your mouth without thinking, let me add a pinch of this or that to make it better.
Here are my recommendations:
The presentations were just as good as the flavors!!!
Watermelon and goat cheese — so fresh and delightful, great starters
House cured salmon — amazing! Left me wanting more
Grapefruit hamachi — again, wow… keep them coming
Sashimi plate — a spoon of each amazing and heavenly flavors!!! Love!
Shiromi carpaccio– wowshers!
Yellowtail ceviche — love!
Soft shell crab salad — tasty
Seabass and mushroom in parchment paper was good as well but I like all the other dishes significantly more
Overall– the flavors for their dishes are divine!!! Top notch in creativity, flavors and presentation.
5 stars all the way!

Charming house converted into a restaurant in downtown Phoenix with complimentary garaged parking nearby.
I’m not sure the quality of the regular food menu yet the bento box dinner entrée during restaurant week was good, not great. The bento box was a seafood or meats selection that ranges from ahi slice tuna, grilled mackerel, pork wrapped bun to medallion beef filet. It was a nice assortment of choices yet not the best quality for a 30 year Japanese chef.
The waiter was friendly and attentive yet the food runner was the complete opposite. They failed to properly provide a detail description of items being served and ran off faster than a bull in Spain. I think proper training could be implemented in this area of service.
The decadent desserts offered is what brought my 3 star rating to 4 stars. The robust blended flavors of berries on top of a well prepared graham cracker crust was the desert of choice. A truly divine creation! The carmelized tofu topped with candied sweetened popcorn was unique and creative but not a favorite.

This lunch was absolutely amazing. We stayed only 48h in Phoenix but were delighted to find such delicious Japanese food there. All dishes were perfect, nothing to complain about. Would totally recommend this place!

Very creative but a bit of a lack of flavor love the ambiance. I would come back for a date nite cocktails looked awesome

I crave grapefruit and hamachi all the time. And soft shell crab. Ohhhh those noodles in fish sauce? Holy heaven in my belly. I first heard about this place years ago, and after venturing downtown and showing up early once on a whim, and then the other time making a reservation on like a Wednesday a week in advance, I’ve never had an issue.
I actually wound up getting a science center membership? Just to eat here again. I know I know, seems silly, but I just love it. And I’m planning on going one more time to make my membership worthy!
I usually end up getting two orders of things, as they are decently small portion sizes, but quality over quantity is definitely the case here! It’s a pretty romantic spot, I do usually get claustrophobic in downtown, but this place? Nope. Maybe it’s the food… The food is my version of Xanax. Till we meet again my lovely teeter house!

The setting is warm and inviting. Nobuo is located in an old house in downtown Phoenix. It is walkable to the Hyatt, Sheraton, Westin, and other hotels in the area — so if you are visiting from out of town — a great place to go after work. Everything on the menu was delicious, it was prepared well and the presentation was super. See attached pictures. We ordered a variety of items such as Oysters, Grapefruit Hamachi, and House Cured Salmon. We were a large group of 8 people from out of town for work — with that size of a group, the food was expensive, it was almost $ 8 a bite. The drinks menu is stellar as well — they carry Japanese whiskey, which seemed to sit well with my colleagues. 5 stars, if there if a «work tab» in play. Otherwise 4 stars.